On The Utley F-Bomb

A lot is being said of Chase Utley's faux pas Monday night during the introductions prior to the home run derby. After he was introduced, he got some boos from some of the local New Yorkers, in which he responded Fuck you, under his breath but because he was wearing a microphone for ESPN, it was picked up. No less than an hour later, it started being posted on blogs and you tubes, and they Philly bashing started.

Was Chase out of line, yes, he later apologized for the remark, although he really didn't say it that loud and it was merely a knee jerk response to a hostile crowd.

Of course because Chase is a Philly player, the Philly bashers had a field day with it, and all the past incidents (snowballs at Santa, cheering Michael Irvin, etc) started coming to the forefront.

I am sick and tired of Philly getting this bad rap when fan and player behavior in other cities is equally as bad, and under reported. I remember reading an article in Sports Illustrated earlier this year about student behavior at college basketball games and how they torment the other teams, and sometime even target visiting players families. Yet incidents like those are hardly noticed and reported, and are tolerated by the schools.

Athletes aren't perfect, and Chase Utley's muttering Fuck You under his breath, but only being heard because he had a microphone (which seems to be getting a lot of folks in trouble lately, paging Jesse Jackson) on it caught the attention of the national media. I am sure that during most professional sports games that a lot of similar things are said all the time, to the other players, the fans, and whomever else is annoying said player. They are adults playing at a high level, high intensity and with a lot of emotion.

Although Chase's comment was in hindsight wrong, in the context of speaking from a Philly fan's perspective, I think it was an appropriate comment...he just got caught.

No harm done, and let's move on and get down to the business of playing baseball.

Well done Chase, you are having a hell of a year, and screw what the rest of fans are saying about you, especially the loser New York fans

--gfo

Upcoming Surgery

Related to my blog post from 15 May 2008, I finally got to meet with the neurosurgeon a few weeks and I am scheduled for the Baclofen Pump, surgery on 31 July 2008. This will take will place at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital here in Philadelphia. After a few days in the hospital, I will be transferred to MossRehab hospital for a few weeks to get some physical therapy which came as a bit of surprise, but once it was explained to me the reason why, it made a lot of sense.

I will be out of work for about 6-8 weeks. Not sure how long I will be in rehab for and my subsequent time at home, so my actual time off could be more or less...hopefully the latter. I have the ability to work from home, so, if necessary I maybe able to split time between home and the office or work out some sort of other compromise, or just transition back slowly.

I have mixed feeling about going under the knife for this procedure, but one thing I can say with great certainty, is that something needs to be done. I have been having more issues with falls and general weakness overall in the last couple of weeks, so the implantation will certainly help.

Overall, I have not really given myself much of a chance to think about the mental aspect and preparation that I think I need. I am scheduled for some readmission's testing this coming Monday, so maybe things will then start to get the brain spinning.

So my summer will be cut short, but hopefully my fall will be better and there will be less of them, pun intended.

--gfo

On Ryan Howard

The Phillies highest paid and least productive player is having a less than stellar year, in fact I will goes as far saying he is having a shitty year. Here are his stats through last nights game (source: CBS Sportsline), against the devastating extra inning loss against the Mets, where he was 1/6, his lone hit being a single, but he struck four times, a couple of times in clutch moments of the game

• At Bats: 337
• Total Hits: 75 (38 singles)
• Doubles: 12
• Triples: 2
• Home Runs: 23
• RBI's: 76
• Batting Average: .223
• Slugging Percentage: .475
• Strikeouts: 123
• Base on Balls: 44 (9 intentional)
• On Base Percentage: .313

Working some of my own numbers here is what I come up with. Based on his current statistics, Howard is more likely to strike out than to get a hit. Of his 337 at bats, he has struck 36% of the time, versus his over all batting average, 22.4%. Of his home run total (23), he hits home runs only 7% of his at bats. His singles percentage is only 11% of his bats.

In Comparison, here is the Phillies other slugger Pat Burrell's numbers:

• At Bats: 287
• Total Hits: 80 (37 singles)
• Doubles: 20
• Triples: 2
• Home Runs: 21
• RBI's: 53
• Batting Average: .279
• Slugging Percentage: .582
• Strikeouts: 70
• Base on Balls: 66 (1 intentional)
• On Base Percentage: .412

Howard's OBP, is about average for the team overall, which is .313, and his slugging percentage of .475 is above the team's .437 percentage. He does however have a national league leading 76 RBI's which is very respectable, but could you imagine what his numbers would be if even 25% of his strikeouts were hits, or if he worked the count more.

What bothers me the most, and probably most Phillies fans, is his strikeouts. A lot of the strikeouts he seems to swing at really bad pitches, especially low and outside breaking balls. In my mind, I am comparing him Dennis Haysbert's character Pedro Cerrano in the movie Major League, who couldn't hit a breaking ball to save his life.

The team has a total of 608 strikeouts. His 123 strikeouts account for 20% of the total strikeouts. Pat Burrell has the second most strikeouts, 70, or 12% overall, but Burrell is batting .279, 21 home runs, and Pat's hits are about equal, 37 singles, 20 doubles, 2 triples, but the deal breaker for me is that Pat Burrell's is a much better defensive player than Howard. Burrell is having a much better season than Howard, and is a more consistent player, but mostly and much more mature player, which Howard seems to lack (read his new found wealth has gotten to his head)

Howard won a ten million dollar arbitration hearing before the season started, and at this point, it looks like he should give some of that money back.

Ryan needs to find his bat, and be more productive at the plate, and get back to doing what he does best. Overall he is driving in the runs, but his strikeouts, especially in critical situations is deplorable, and unacceptable. His arbitration deal was for this year only, and if he wants to continue making the kind of money that he does, he needs to be more productive at the plate and on the field. Maybe some extra time in the cages would do him some good, or bring in Mike Schmidt to help Ryan find his bat.

This team has the makings of a winner, and hopefully Ryan will start contributing more at the plate. He can't count on other members of the team to continue to pick him up, which they have done.

--gfo